Tenn. Emergency Crews Train w/ Ham Operators

FRANKLIN, TN, Jan. 20, 2007 – What would happen if disaster hit Middle Tennessee and wiped out emergency radio communication?

It turns out many communities would rely on amateur radio operators.

When county radios and cell phones won’t work, battery-powered radios manned by ham or amateur radio operators would still be up and running.

A network of such operators would help deliver crucial information and get help where it’s needed. For example, after Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast in 2005, some of the first calls for help came from ham radios.

At the Williamson County Emergency Communication Center, dispatchers spent Saturday working alongside about two dozen

volunteer radio operators. The county dispatchers, radio operators and sheriff’s deputies worked together to prepare for a possible emergency.

“I think a lot of people, if they think of us at all, think of us as people who talk to people in other countries,” said Alan Biddle, an amateur radio operator. “But, if they look around, in times of emergency, we’re there.”

“They play a very important role when disaster strikes,” said Bill Jorgensen, director of Williamson County Emergency Communication department.

He said that if a major disaster were to wipe out county communication, emergency personnel would be able to contact one another through HAM Radios.

“We could dispatch a rider – amateur operator with his own equipment — to communicate tactically with the 911 call center,” said Myron Maker, a radio operator.

Both groups practiced doing that on Saturday by adding HAM equipment to patrol cars and having operators contact the 911 center on both radios.